TSIS: The Art of Quoting
Quoting gives the author credibility in their claims by having proof of accuracy in their claims of “they say”. The chapter discusses the dangers in expecting quotes to speak for themselves, assuming the reader can interpret it in the same way they can. I can see the thoughts behind this; however, I have read pieces in the past where after inserting a quote, the author goes on to restate essentially exactly what I just read, which itself is not analysis and is redundant. The passage in They Say I Say mentions the importance of properly framing the quotation and offers multiple example on how to do so. This section made me think of how a quote is similar to a focus point in a piece of art. If you were painting a portrait of an octopus, no matter how good it was, the context for what you are trying to say about it depends on what you put in the background of the piece. When it comes to the analysis of a quote, the book explains there are no hard rules on how much is enough or too much. My goal has always been to make my analysis about as long as the quote I used.
